Organizations with high volumes of data have long sought to maximize data storage performance while minimizing the cost of storage. Unfortunately, the goals of high performance and low cost are often at odds. Traditionally, many organizations have turned to hierarchical storage management (“HSM”) systems in order to achieve relatively high-performance storage at a relatively low cost. HSM solutions typically automatically place data that is frequently accessed on high-performance, high-cost storage, while placing data that is infrequently accessed on low-performance, low-cost storage.
HSM solutions, however, are currently deployed in an increasingly fragmented market. For example, while HSM solutions were once predominately implemented on UNIX systems, today HSM solutions are often implemented on MICROSOFT WINDOWS systems. Unfortunately, differing platforms such as these may lack the native ability to interoperate in ways necessary for hierarchical storage management systems. For example, a MICROSOFT WINDOWS server that relies on Common Internet File System (“CIFS”) technology to inspect, access, and manipulate files across a network may be unable to properly apply hierarchical storage management techniques on a UNIX endpoint system that lacks CIFS functionality. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods that project hierarchical storage management functions across different platforms.